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8/20/2016

It's Only the End of the Summer: Taking Stock of Canada's Oscar Contenders Pre-TIFF

Xavier Dolan with Marion Cotillard and Nathalie Baye on the shoot for It's Only the End of the World.
eOne Films.

It’s already the end of the summer, so let’s do the annual
Canada/TIFF/Oscars debate. Only five countries have submitted as of publication, the most high profile and surprising of which is Romania's pick of Sieranevada over Cannes Best Director winner Graduation.

Here’s the first question: Where are all the Canadian films
this year? 2016 feels like a drought. There are far too many movies these days,
but few of the films making to Canadian screens are Canadian.

The numbers are so bad that Playback frequently adds editorial notes to their Canadian box
office reports saying there weren’t enough Canadian releases to round out a top
five, including one embarrassing week in July with only three releases reporting numbers, one of which was
an IMAX re-release of a 2011 film.

There are still plenty of direct to VOD releases, Quebecois commercial
films (Les 3 p’tits cochons 2 is
doing gangbusters at the b.o.), and people four-walling The Kingsway, but these
films don’t play a factor in the annual speculation of what film Canada might
send to the Oscars in the race for Best Foreign Language Film.

The year, however, has a bit of a defeatist tone when looks
at the field. It feels like a forgone conclusion heading into TIFF that the
pan-Canadian committee chaired by Telefilm Canada is bound to select Xavier
Dolan’s It’s Only the End of the World.
(Note: Telefilm itself doesn’t get a vote in the selection.) Having survived
some utterly toxic reviews at Cannes only to emerge with two awards including
the runner-up gong of the Grand Prix, Dolan’s coup ties Atom Egoyan’s The
Sweet Hereafter for Canada’s biggest win at Cannes. It’s the most esteemed
prize that any Quebecois film has had going into the race. It’s hard to
overlook that endorsement in the absence of contenders with similar profiles.
(Admittedly, even I assumed it was out after its Cannes premiere.)

Critics generally hate the movie, though, and foreign films
struggle in awards season unless they have passionate champions. Do two Cannes
prizes carry any clout if nobody will go to bat for the film? The divisive Grand Prix win arguably sharpened animosity towards
the film with Cannes juror Mads Mikkelsen's imperceptible jaw drop during the award ceremony becoming a meme of redemption for critics who felt better films went unacknowledged.

However, a strong North
American premiere for It’s Only the End
of the World could help the film rebound. It needs it and we need it. A repeat of Cannes, or even a tepidly
polite response, doesn’t make the film an easy choice despite the pedigree, but
one must be optimistic given that it’s heading back to home turf and Canucks
like Peter Howell were among the film’s defenders.

Don’t let the small number of Canadian films fool you,
though. There are some really great under-the-radar gems from the past year
that deserve consideration. The TIFF slate, meanwhile, looks incredibly
promising so there’s always the chance for a late-crashing game-changer or,
more likely, a strong candidate for next year.

Here’s a preview of Canadian films that could pop into the
Oscar race if they play their cards right, starting with five TIFF premieres:

Nathalie Baye in It's Only the End of the World
eOne Films

It’s Only the End of the World (Juste la fin du monde)

Director: Xavier Dolan

Programme: Special Presentations (North American Premiere)

Release:
Sept. 21 (eOne Films/Les Films Séville)

Synopsis: After
12 years of absence, a writer goes back to his hometown, planning on announcing
his upcoming death to his family. As resentment soon rewrites the course of the
afternoon, fits and feuds unfold, fuelled by loneliness and doubt, while all
attempts of empathy are sabotaged by people’s incapacity to listen, and love.

The word: The win
of the Cannes Grand Prix and the Ecumenical Jury Prize, combined with a North
American re-launch ahead of a theatrical release on the heels of the festival,
Dolan’s It’s Only the End of the World
checks several boxes that have worked for Canuck contenders in the past. The
whiff of Cannes pans nevertheless lingers over it, with one review
out of the Sydney Film Festival noting, “It’s still worth checking out. But
only on a day when you already kind of hate the world, a happy disposition is
unlikely to survive the gruelling, spirit-breaking 90 minutes.”

More frequently, reviewers frame the film within the context
of its Cannes controversy. “Even if it didn’t entirely come off,” writes
another, “it’s great to see Dolan doing something out of his comfort zone.
It’s far from the disaster that Cannes suggested, and no amount of ambivalence towards the film can hide the fact
that he is a talented filmmaker.”Ditto this film fan who says, “It is easy to see whyIt’s Only the End of the World (Juste la fin du monde) has been so
divisive, just as it is almost impossible to watch Xavier Dolan’s film in a
festival setting without acknowledging the media frenzy around the film’s 2016
Cannes screening… Dolan ensures that we feel the same disconnect from these
people that Louis feels for a family that, for him at least, is effectively a collection
of fragmented memories.”

Finally, one critic offers a more encouraging reading that
situates the film within the Dolan oeuvre and draws comparison to Hitchcock.
Says Graffiti with Punctuation: “There’s
an element of Hitchcock’s lesson of suspense here, showing that the usually
striking Ulliel with a pallid complexion may be on the precipice of death, and
that this visit is goodbye. You don’t realise that it’s a far more passive
experience than films like Mommy or Tom at the Farm until you feel the
defibrillator to your chest during two incredible flashbacks.”

Chances: The
safest bet. TIFF critics and audiences can be just as brutal and unpredictable
as Cannes press, but unless the North American premiere is an unmitigated
disaster, it’s probably in.

Mylène MacKay in Nelly.
Les Films Séville

Nelly

Dir. Anne Émond

Programme: Vanguard (World Premiere)

Release:
TBA (eOne/Les Films Séville)

Synopsis:A film loosely based on the life and work
of Nelly Arcan. The portrait of a woman, lost between
her irreconcilable identities as writer of love stories and an infamous whore. Several women in one, navigating
between great exaltation and deep disenchantment. The film offers a portrait of
the violent life and work of a radical; a tribute to a dense writer, chilling
and vital.

The word: Anne Émond is one of the most promising new
filmmakers in Canada. She comes to the festival just one year after her
exceptional drama Les êtres chers(Our Loved Ones) had its North American
premiere there. Early images highlight an impressive performance by Mylène
MacKay, who is one of this year’s TIFF Rising Stars and a lush, sexy, and
avant-garde style from Émond.

TIFF Canadian programmer Magali Simard is also really going
to bat for this one and singing its praises in interviews with media and TIFF podcasters. She says that the film delivers on the promise of Émond’s first two
features and confirms a new talent.

Chances: This one
probably isn’t happening if its distributor is already putting the Dolan out in
time, but there’s always a chance to squeeze it in before Oct. 1. More likely,
the film could help bring attention back to Émond, whose Les êtres chers is the best release heading into the festival that
deserves to be our pick.

Photo courtesy of TIFF

Boundaries(Pays)

Dir. Chloé Robichaud

Programme: Contemporary World Cinema (World Premiere)

Release: Sept. 16 (eOne/Séville)

Synopsis: The
path of three women cross in Besco, a small isolated island facing an important
economic crisis. Félixe, an idealistic Canadian, elected as a federal deputy at
only 25 years old, Danielle, a strong and confident woman in her mid 40s,
President of Besco, and Emily, a talented American mediator in her 30s leading
negotiations between both countries. Dealing with the political conflict about
the exploitation of Besco’s natural resources will bring these women to
question how they wish to balance work with their personal lives. Under
pressure, will they remain faithful to themselves and their values?

The word: Robichaud,
like Émond, is a talent to watch. Her previous feature Sarah Prefers to Runwas an eclectic and intimate character study.
Even if didn’t really connect at the box office or see much awards traction, it
delivered on the promise of her short films. Her new feature Boundaries boasts an impressive crop of
Quebecois talent with stars like Macha Grenon and Rémy Girard and it has been
selected as the opening night feature to kick off the Festival de Cinéma de la
Ville de Québec just two days before its theatrical release.

Chances: Who
knows, but as the one other TIFF contender with a confirmed release to make the
qualifier, it’s a dark horse to rep our pays.

Photo courtesy of TIFF

Anatomy of Violence

Dir. Deepa Mehta

Programme: Masters (World Premiere)

Release: TBA (no distributor)

Synopsis: Celebrated
filmmaker Deepa Mehta investigates one of India’s most notorious crimes — the
2012 gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman on a Delhi bus — in her angry,
impassioned and essential new film.

The word: The
project sounds fascinating. A work shot by Mehta off the grid, Anatomy of Violence is said to strip
away all the style of her recent features for a fearless and unconventional
study of violence against women. The Hindi film is reportedly a dramatic hybrid
in which actors underwent workshops to understand the trauma of sexual assault
and put themselves in the mindset of men who abuse women. The film offers an
improvised exploration of a real crime using found props, location shoots, and
chance encounters with passersby on the street. If it works, it really seems
like the kind of film that can generate a lot of productive discussion and gain
major attention in a field hungry for diversity and risk takers. As with Nelly, Anatomy of Violence is one of the films that Simard is highlighting
to fans. Her description of it on the festival’s “Nobody’s Perfect” podcast is
bound to put it on the TIFFr planner of anyone who listens. Hints at a
different, deeper Mehta sound very exciting.

Chances: Don’t
expect it for this year. The film is bound to be controversial and, potentially,
divisive given the style and subject matter, so a prospective distributor would
have to approach it cautiously and smartly to do it justice, rather than just
snap it up and throw it into the award season behemoth.

Photo courtesy of TIFF

Maliglutit (Searchers)

Dir. Zacharius Kunuk

Programme: Platform (World Premiere)

Release: Isuma Distribution International Ltd.

Synopsis: Nunavut,
circa 1913. Kuanana returns from a caribou hunt to discover his wife and
daughter kidnapped, and the rest of his family slaughtered. His father's spirit
helper, the loon Kallulik, sets him on course to overturn fate and reunite his
family.

The word:
Zacharius Kunuk has Citizen Kane-like
expectations to uphold with his new film. After his 2001 drama Atanarjuat ousted Mon Oncle Antoine in TIFF’s 2015 pre-Jutra scandal poll to claim
the title of the best Canadian film of all time, he has a lot to live up to. Atanarjuat also repped Canada at the
2001 Oscars in the Best Foreign Language Film race and while it fell short of making
even the semi-finals, it drew ample acclaim and attention to Inuit cinema.
Kunuk comes to the world stage with this Inuktitut take on John Ford’s The Searchers and gets to unveil a
unique take on the western in the festival’s glitzy new Platform competition,
which itself brings expectations to add to the weight of making the film deemed
Canada’s best. Maliglutit certainly
looks and sounds fantastic, though, and it’s exactly the kind of film that a
panel would conceivably choose to reflect its national cinema.

Chances: CBC reports
that Kunuk plans to screen the film in his native Igloolik come October, too,
so, like Mehta’s film, Maliglutit
might be one to watch next year if it’s a TIFF hit.

Old Stone.
TIFF

Other films that are playing at TIFF, but are more likely to
be considered next year:

If we don’t do the Dolan, here are some of the goodies
hiding in the wings from the past year:

-My Internship in Canada:Philippe Falardeau’s rapid-fire satire
is the best Canadian comedy in recent memory, but its Harper-era politics aren’t
likely to connect with international audiences as well as they did with
Canadian viewers. Awards include a special citation at TIFF 2015, a slot in Canada’s
Top Ten, 4 Canadian Screen Award nominations including Best Picture, 3 Gala
Cinéma awards. Chances: a dark horse. It's a great comedy, but one that Canadians will appreciate more than others will.

-The Demons:Philippe Lesage’s film got rave reviews and tanked
at the Quebec box office, but rebounded with a Canada’s Top Ten placement, and
nominations for both Best Picture and Best Director at the Canadian Screen
Awards and Gala Cinéma. Chances: it's a decent film, but a major twist that comes about two-thirds of the way through is bound to prove divisive. Why not just go for the polarising film with a Cannes prize?

-King David: The new film by Podz (Miraculum) is currently in Quebec theatres after a bow at Fantasia. Chances: Nil. Not making any noise outside Quebec.

-Endorphine:André Turpin repped Canada before with Un crabe dans la tête, but this film is
just too weird. Chances: Low. Too strange. (And not very good.)

-Snowtime / La guerre des tuques 3D: the Canuck box office champ
isn’t the kind of fodder one submits in this category, but wouldn’t it be fun to
see Céline Dion back at the Oscars? Chances: Low. More of a commercial affair.

-The Waiting Room:Great film, but there’s probably too much
English dialogue for it to qualify. Low: Not the flashiest choice and the team had a much strong offering with In Her Place last year.

-The Apology:Tiffany Hsiung’s documentary is the best Canadian
film of the year so far and while it has yet to play outside the festival
circuit, it’s certainly worth noting. Chances: Canada has never submitted a doc
in this category and the NFB has a better shot on concentrating on the feature
documentary race.

-Our Loved Ones:Anne Émond’s stirringly beautiful film recalls
Olivier Assayas’s Summer Hours with
its sweeping yet intimate glimpse into the course of a family’s life. Awards
include a Canada’s Top Ten spot and seven nominations including Best Picture
and Best Director at the Canadian Screen Awards and the Gala Cinéma. Chances: This film
would be a strong and worthy choice.

Verdict: It’s
already the end of the race, eh? Dolan deserves another shot after 2014's Mommy was robbed of a nomination, but if Mommy can't make it, can World?